Sameh Maraaba (born 19 March 1992) is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for Al-Sareeh as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

in the

Jordanian Pro League The Jordanian Pro League () is a Jordanian professional league for men's football clubs and represents the top flight of Jordanian football. The championship consists of twelve competing teams in a home and away league system. The league was not ...

and for the Palestine national team.

Career

Maraaba made his professional international debut for Palestine in 2015 during Second round World Cup qualifying for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The very next game, against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

he scored twice, in Palestine's 6-0 surprise routing.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Palestine's goal tally first.''

Personal life

Maraaba would have made his debut for Palestine a lot sooner, however he was embroiled within the political turmoil that surrounds

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

as a nation. Maraaba was arrested by the

Israeli Defence Force The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, an ...

on 28 April 2014 at the

border crossing Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

between

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

as he returned from a training camp in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. A spokesman for the

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (; ) is one of the most important Cabinet of Israel, ministries in the Government of Israel, Israeli government. The ministry's role is to implement Israel's foreign policy, and promote economic, cultural ...

claimed they had "concrete information that he was carrying, or was involved in the potential transfer of communication equipment and finance on behalf of

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

". Maraaba denied the claims, with the

Palestinian Football Association The Palestinian Football Association () is the governing body for football in Palestine, and for the men's Palestine national football team and the Palestine women's national football team. History Palestinian Jewish formation The Mandatory Pa ...

claiming that he had been "carrying money back to his

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

which had been given to him by an ex-colleague of the club who had previously been jailed by Israel as a member of Hamas". As a result, Maraaba was detained for a period of 7 months, resulting in him missing Palestine's

2014 AFC Challenge Cup The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup was the fifth and the final edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, an international Association football, football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging co ...

campaign (in which Palestine would ultimately win, qualifying for the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

in the process), the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

(in which Palestine made the

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

), and the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

External links

*
Sameh Maraaba
at Eurosport {{DEFAULTSORT:Maraaba, Sameh 1992 births Living people Palestinian men's footballers Palestine men's international footballers Footballers from Qalqilya Jabal Al-Mukaber Club players Hilal Al-Quds Club players Shabab Al-Khader SC players Thaqafi Tulkarem players Ahli Al-Khaleel players Shabab Al-Khaleel SC players Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari players Al-Sareeh SC players Men's association football forwards Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Games footballers for Palestine Palestine Technical University alumni Palestine men's youth international footballers West Bank Premier League players Libyan Premier League players Jordanian Pro League players Palestinian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Libya Palestinian expatriate sportspeople in Libya Expatriate men's footballers in Jordan Palestinian expatriate sportspeople in Jordan